Souls
by tabills
Summary: Naruto is being tortured by Shushui Uchiha when the Kyubi intervenes. Now it is ten years later and Shushui is dead.
1. Chapter 1

The ages will be set back slightly. I feel that having someone become a ninja at the age of twelve is a little to early. In this story Naruto will graduate around the age of 15 so everyone will be getting a boost in the age department.

Souls

Prolog

A short young blonde sprinted around the corner. He grinned with his latest achievement of letting the Inuzuka dogs loose into the village. As he ran his navy blue shirt ruffled in the wind. His vibrant orange pants doing the same. Both articles of clothing were much to big for him, but it was all he had, not that he minded.

As he rounded another corner he came into contact with something slightly hard and landed on his butt roughly. He looked up and saw someone he did not recognize. In a panic he quickly got up and tried to bolt for it.

His mind immediately went towards his previous prank and the coincidence of someone knocking him down. In a sudden stop the rest of his body besides in neck up continued forward slamming him into the ground.

He ground as he looked up and saw the person again. The man grinned at him as his black eyes changed into red.

"Hello little boy." He said with a sneer. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Nothin. I wasn't doin nothin!" Naruto shouted in response.

The man grinned even more if that was possible and picked Naruto up by the back of his shirt and carried him into a near by alley. As he approached the back of an alley Naruto spotted a hole in the ground.

He already knew what the hole was used for. Sewage access. He had used the tunnels many times to escape after a prank. Nobody thought to check them, so it was basically his own little secret. As he thought about the sewage system he yelp as he was shoved down the hole and fell on his back once again. The man jumped down after him and slid the cover back in place blocking out what little sunlight could enter the hole.

The dim lights that lined the walls gave only enough light to show that the man was still grinning from ear to ear.

"Do you know who I am little boy?" The man asked.

"N-no." Naruto stuttered out.

"My name is Shisui Uchiha." the man replied. "And do you know where I brought you down here?"

"No." Naruto replied steadily this time.

Shisui grabbed Naruto by the neck and replied in a low voice. "I am here to torture and kill you on behalf of the Uchiha clan." With a quick movement he made a kunai appear and slammed it into Naruto's hand pinning it to the wall.

Naruto screamed in pain as blood splatted the dirty floor. He gritted his teach and managed one word. "Why?"

"Why?" Shisui asked in an assumed tone. "Because you have the Kyubi inside of you of course." The man began cackling and slammed a kunai into Naruto's other arm pinning him to the wall.

Naruto cried out in pain again as he hung from his hands. The blades of the kunai slowly cutting into his hands threatening to slice them in half if not for the bones. No more words were said from the man as he began placing more kunai into Naruto's body attempting to kill him ever so slowly.

As the man ran out of kunai he grabbed the tanto that was on his back and removed it from its scabbard. With a grin the placed the tip of the blade against Naruto's skin right about where his heart was.

Naruto's barely conscious body fought fiercely against the kunai that pinned him to the wall, but there was no use. "Good bye." was all he heard as the tip of the blade pierce his skin.

As Naruto's passed out an explosion of red chakra burst from his body pushing Shisui back several feet. With a panicked look Shisui charged at Naruto intending to finish it. Suddenly Naruto's hand ripped forward leaving the kunai still embedded in the wall.

"**Good bye human." **Naruto said in a deep malevolent voice. His hand shot forward and stabbed into Shisui's chest just as he was about to stabbed Naruto.

"**Tamashi Kyushu." ** Naruto muttered as the color from Shisui's body drained away. A dim purple flash of chakra ran up Naruto's arm and entered into his chest causing him to convulse. When that happened the rest of the kunai shot out of his body and embedded themselves into the wall across the tunnel.

Slowly a black ring formed around Naruto's iris as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

'It has begun.' a voice echoed inside of Naruto's confidence.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Time Made Up

_...ten years later._

Naruto walked down the street with his hands stuffed in his pocket. As he headed towards the Academy his thoughts drifted towards the Genin exam and his inability to create a proper Bunshin. No matter how me trained the technique or how much he practiced the leaf spinning exercise, he just couldn't do it.

Through his research he discovered that he had a massive amount of chakra and very little chakra control, which in turn caused him to fail at creating a proper Bunshin. He was actually very smart. Some might even call him a genius with his high IQ and Eidetic memory. His analytical mind served him well. Unfortunately he was restricted in information that should have been available to everyone. As a civilian the villagers wouldn't allow him in the library, and he was sabotaged left and right in the academy.

It was truly amazing what he was able to piece together by just observation and filling in the blanks of his knowledge.

As he walked into the room approximately 15 minutes late everyone gawked at him. His normal vibrant orange outfit was no longer on him. The baggy clothing that he despised was the only thing he could afford. Lucky for him he had found a shinobi shop that he didn't overcharge him or throw him out. Heiki who owns Shinobi Depot was kind to him and even gave him a slight discount with the amount of objects he had purchased.

His outfit was exactly the opposite of his old one. Gone was the brash colors and in their place was mostly black. The orange pants were were swapped out with black tactical pants that were tucked under navy blue medical tape. The pants donned navy blue trimming that matched the tape. Covering his feet were black shinobi sandals. On his right leg sat a navy blue kunai pouch that went over blue medical tape to keep the pant leg out of the way.

Hanging off of his Navy blue belt was a basic pouch that held a stash of shuriken, ninja wire, and exploding tags. On his left hip was a basic black katana that was given to him by Heiki. Covering his upper body was a basic black t-shirt that was tucked into his pants.

"Naruto! Why are you late?" Iruka shouted at him.

"Dunno." Naruto replied with a shrug before walking to his seat in the back of the room. In truth he was really getting his new outfit for his graduation day. He grew tired of the orange and finally took the initiative to change his look.

Iruka got a puzzled look on his face for a second before continuing with the test. "The first part of the exam will be a written test." he said as he began handing out papers. "You will have exactly one hour to complete it."

Naruto stared at the answers for a bit before realizing that he learned next to nothing in the class. With a frown he began making up answers for the next hour. He obviously failed the thing, not that he didn't already know that was going to happen. As the TaiJutsu portion of the exam came up he was set against Kiba who was without a doubt better in TaiJutsu than him.

"Ya ready idiot?" Kiba asked with an amused tone.

"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto said back.

With Iruka's go Kiba sprinted across the grass and launched a right hay maker at Naruto's head. Naruto attempted to dodge left, but Kiba's speed was to great for him and he took the fist directly in his right eye. Naruto sprawled on the ground and groaned. As he slowly got back up Kiba jumped on top of him and began raining down lefts and rights.

"Stop!" Iruka shouted.

Kiba got up with a smirk on his face and shouted. "Hell yeah!"

Naruto nursed his right eye as he slowly got off the floor and glared at Kiba. 'Damn, I must get stronger...' he thought.

"Alright everyone inside of the NinJutsu portion of the exam." Iruka said as he lead the class back inside. Naruto groaned even more. NinJutsu was his worst topic. It wasn't that he was bad at it, it was just that he could not do a Bunshin.

As Iruka began calling more people Naruto became more and more nervous. He knew the repercussions. Stupidity had nothing to do with his poor performance. In every sense of the word he was a genius. He had an Eidetic memory, exceptional awareness, and a massive IQ. His problem was the proper motivation and his childhood being plagued by sadness. He hadn't really started to try until this last year, and by then he was so far behind that it didn't matter.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka said. This snapped him out of his thoughts as he walked down to the front of the class, prepared to fail. "Could you perform the Bunshin no Jutsu please?" Iruka asked.

Naruto nodded and formed the hand seal. With a pop three deformed Naruto's came into existance and then quickly dispelled as Naruto got rid of them. He hung his head in shame and walked out of the class room before even hearing Iruka's decisions.

As he sat on the swing thinking about the test he became sadder and angrier that ever before. For too long this village had put him down, beat him, and cast him aside. This village always brought his saddness and it was time that he did something about it. He remembered reading about a man that had a very specific goal. Immortality. The thought of living forever intrigued him. The problem was it was impossible, or very improbable.

As his emotions began to build and build, his eyes began to flicker between blue and red. Slowly his vision improved and he began to see things more clearly. From the outside Naruto was now wielding a one tome Sharingan in both eyes.

"**Fuck!" **a voice shouted. Naruto felt a spike of his chakra and suddenly his improved vision was gone.

Naruto looked around for the voice, but he saw no one except Mizuki approaching him. **'Got to keep that under wraps for a while.' ** the Kyubi thought with a grin.

"Hello Naruto." Mizuki said. "I know it must be hard for you. I know how hard you worked this last year." Naruto nodded with approval with the conversation. "I am not suppose to tell you this, but...there is another way that you can graduate." Naruto stared at the man with skepticism, but he didn't say anything.

"Inside of the Hokage's office is a very large scroll called the Scroll of Seals. If you are able to steal that and learn 1 technique from it them Iruka will have to pass you." Naruto mentally shook his head. He glad he hid his intellect. He knew that stealing the scroll was wrong, but this was an excuse to take it and have Mizuki take all the blame.

"I'll do it!" Naruto shouted with a grin on his face.

XXXXXXXXX

As Naruto rolled out the scroll the first technique he saw was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. After reading the description he saw that it was a solid clone, with it's own chakra network. It also listed that it gives the original what even the clone learned. Naruto smirked even more when he saw the warning about the chakra requirements, and the mental damage it could do if not careful. Listed on the bottom was a note saying that most Jonin could only make on average ten Kage Bunshin before he or she was out of chakra.

Naruto did the proper hand sign and added his normal chakra amount. The result was brilliant. Next to him was a single perfect clone. Oh how he could use the knowledge transfer to his advantage. "Go stand guard and dispel if anyone comes near us." Naruto order.

"Hai" was at it said in return before running off to circle the perimeter.

Naruto unrolled the rest of the scroll and saw 4 more abilities on it and one storage seal. The rest of the scroll explained a very advanced scroll, that Naruto didn't really care about. He smirked and created 3 more clones to learn the other abilities. He laughed when he realized that he wasn't even tired from creating 5 clones. That was half of the listed clones that a Jonin was suppose to do before running out of chakra.

Naruto placed some chakra on the storage scroll and another smaller scroll popped out. He unrolled it and smirked again when he realized what it was. It was a map to one of Orochimaru's labs that was never destroyed in Konoha.

Naruto immediately grabbed his head when the 3 clones dispelled and gave Naruto the knowledge they had learned. When he was done sorting through the information he smirked once again. The first technique was the Bunshin Daibakuna. It created an exploding Kage Bunshin that could be detonated. The next was the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, that replicated shuriken as you threw them. The next was the Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, that created a large number of shadow clones. Naruto smirked at this, as more training ideas formed in his head.

His grin fell when his sentry clone dispelled and sent the image of Iruka heading his way. He quickly stuffed the map inside of his pocket and then rolled up the Scroll of Seals. Once it was slung over his shoulder he made a shadow clone and then jumped into a nearby tree to observe.

"Naruto, what do you think you are doing?!" Iruka shouted.

'Naruto' gave Iruka a confused look before answering. "What do you mean? Mizuki said that if I learned a technique from the Scroll of Seals that I would be able to become a Genin."

"He, what?"

"I should have known that you would show up right away." Mizuki said as he appeared on a tree branch.

"Why would you do this Mizuki?" Iruka asked. "Why would you betray your village?"

"For power you idiot. Do you know what kind of power is inside of that Scroll?" Mizuki replied.

"Yes I do." 'Naruto' replied. "And I learned four techniques from it." The original Naruto created a Bunshin Daibakuna and sent it to sneak up behind Mizuki when he was busy.

"WHAT?!" both Iruka and Mizuki shouted.

"Like you could learn anything from that scroll idiot." Mizuki replied once he composed himself.

"Oh really?" 'Naruto' said. The shadow clone dispelled and the original jumped down from his place. "This only reason I failed was because I only applied myself during the last year. Plus this village has done nothing but despise me since I was born.

Mizuki went from stunned to laughing almost immediately. "Do you want to know why?" he said with a grin on his face. "The Hokage never killed the Kyubi, he sealed it inside of a baby."

"Mizuki NO!" Iruka shouted.

"That baby was you." Mizuki finished with a sneer.

Naruto stumbled back from the information and slid down the tree behind him. It all made sense. He always knew their had to be a reason behind. Suddenly that day 10 years ago fit together. He didn't pass out the first time. The Kyubi took over. 'I'll have to thank it later.' Naruto thought. As he processed the information he came to realize that this could be taken as either a gift or a curse. He chose to think of it as a gift that would aide him in his plans.

With his mind made up he nodded and formed a handsign just as his exploding clone grabbed onto Mizuki. The result was brilliant. With one technique Mizuki was no longer there. All that remained was some bits and pieces.

Iruka gaped at what happened. His gaze shifted over to Naruto and stared. He smiled and then walked over. "Naruto could you close your eyes for me?" Iruka asked.

Naruto did so and felt Iruka place his Hitai on him. Naruto opened his eyes and smiled. "Thank you." he said.

"Your welcome. Now why don't we get you some ramen." Iruka said. Naruto smiled and nodded in agreement.

XXXXX

Naruto woke up bright and early Saturday morning. He quickly got himself ready as he pondered on yesterdays events. Once he was fully dressed he pulled out the map and thought out an indirect, but quick route to the lab. Once he was satisfied he sprinted out the door with an eager grin on his face.

Thoughts of what he would find quickly filled his head as he entered the red-light district of Konoha. The area was filled with nothing but bars, brothels, and casinos.

Located right in the heart of the red-light district was an alley. His intended target was suppose to be just inside the alley through a sealed door. As per the instructions on the map he placed it on the door and then pushed some chakra into it. The map sunk into the door and dozens of seals began to fade away. With a 'pop' the door opened slowly.

As Naruto entered the lab he immediately noticed that massive amount of books and scrolls. In fact the entire lab was completely filled except for a small area, big enough for someone to stand in and close the door behind them.

Naruto picked up the first scroll and read the title. 'Suii' was printed across the top. Upon reading the first few pages he noticed that the style was all about transitioning between different styles to confuse and or adapt to your opponents. He placed the book next to his feet and picked up the next book in the stack. It was Hebi style. The style made famous by Orochimaru. It gave the user the advantage of dodge and counter.

Naruto smiled and set the book on top of the Suii book. The next book on the stack was Muay Thai, a basic fighting style based on striking and grappling. As Naruto began sifting through the book he began to formulate strategy's for learning techniques. As he dug his way to a corner he saw a massive scroll leaned up in the corner. When he opened it up it was filled with empty storage seals.

As if a bright light went off above his head, he quickly began sealing up all of the books inside the scroll. Upon finishing he did a quick check to make sure he had empty the place of everything that he could possible seal and then rolled up the scroll on slung it over his shoulder. Went a content sigh he left the lab and locked it up just in case. It could become useful eventually.

Naruto quickly sprinted back to his house and laid the scroll on his kitchen table. While sealing the books up he did his best to separate them into categories. His first priority was to develop a TaiJutsu style out of the massive amount of books.

He spent the rest of the day reading over the descriptions of the styles and picked out the ones he was going to used. Went a content sigh he pushed them off to the side and continued with the rest of the categories.

By the time he was finished he only had 3 hours before he was due at the Academy to get his team, and he had a massive amount of books in front of him. He based his TaiJutsu around the Suii book he found and planned on incorporating Hebi, Muay Thai, Red Leg, Kentoushi, Dian Xue Shu, and Naitsu.

Each style served a purpose and a way to over come an enemy. Hebi was of course an evasion style, while Muay Thai was a basic striking and grappling style. Red Leg focused on kicks and left the hands free, Dian Xue Shu focused on pressure points to harm the enemy, and Naitsu is a variation of Gentle Fist that the Hyuuga use.

Naruto's next topic he sorted through was weapons. And his idea of learning various weapons was definitely seen by the amount of books. Swords, knives, etc. he had them. He major focus was of course KenJutsu. His attention was immediately brought towards a massive book called Gyakusatsu. With the KenJutsu style in mind he began building styles around once more. Gintsuki no Seikou Mei was his second choice that worked with knives and small weapons. His thoughts immediately went towards modifying it slightly to incorporate a kunai, or having custom kunai made. His final weapons choice was Senbon Taitoku, which revolved around using and throwing senbon to inflict damage. It's ability to be incorporated into TaiJutsu was almost limitless as well.

With physical things out of the way, Naruto got to the meat of his research. NinJutsu, GenJutsu, FuinJutsu, and KinJutsu.

NinJutsu would be something he learned once he found out what his affinity was. There were several books that he would be going into thought. One of those was developing sensor techniques. Although Orochimaru favored NinJutsu, Naruto was definitely on the path of deception and GenJutsu.

Naruto spared no book, when it can to GenJutsu. The possibilities on the type of Jutsu was limitless. With such little chakra once could potentially defeat an opponent without so much as lifting a finger.

His last two categories were FuinJutsu and KinJutsu. Both were appealing, but both were very advanced. With a sigh he placed the books off to the side and stood up. With a groan he stretched and then headed to bed to catch a couple of hours before he was assigned his team.

XXXXXXX

"Alright everyone congratulations again on graduating. Today you will be getting your teams." Iruka said. "Team 1...Team 7. Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Huruno, and Shino Aburame. Team 8 is Naruto Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, and Hinata Hyuga. Team 10 is Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, and Choji Akimichi. Now your Jonin instructors will meet you here and give you further instruction."

As Iruka left the room a beautiful woman with ebony black hair and ruby red eyes walked in. She wore a basic Jonin outfit only red in color. The only thing missing was the vest, not that Naruto cared. He long sleeved shirt v-necked and showed off an ample amount of her breasts, that putting it lightly were larger than normal.

"Team 8?" she asked.

"Yep." Naruto replied nonchalantly.

"Yes sensei." Ino replied.

"Ye-yes." Hinata replied. Her cheeks were burning up with the thought of being on the same team as Naruto.

"Meet me at training ground 43." Kurenai said and then vanished in a Shunshin.

Thirty minutes later the three Genin arrived at the said training ground. Kurenai was standing in the middle patiently waiting for them to show up. "Now, why don't we start with introductions?" she said. "I'll start. My name is Kurenai Yuhi. I like GenJutsu, and I dislike perverts. My dream is to become the best GenJutsu user. Now you Naruto.

"Right." Naruto said with a nod. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I like ramen and training. I dislike judgmental people, and my goal is to become the best Shinobi in the world!"

"Now you Ino."

"My name is Ino Yamanaka and I like my clan. I dislike Forehead girl. My dream is to marry someone." She finished with a blush on her checks.

"Hinata."

"M-my name is Hinata Hyuga. I like... I dislike my c-clan. My dream is to gain my fathers approval."

"Ok, now that we know each other I want you all to be here tomorrow at 8 A.M. For your Genin test."

"What do you mean Sensei?" Ino asked.

"Well in order to become part of a Genin team you must pass a test. If you fail you must re-graduate from the Academy."

"What!" Naruto shouted.

"Don't worry. I am sure you will pass." Kurenai said with a smile. "See you tomorrow." She then vanished in a Shunshin.

"Alrighty, back to training." Naruto said before sprinting towards his house.

"See you tomorrow." Hinata said with more confidence, now that Naruto was gone.

"See ya." Ino replied. 'This sucks! I am stuck with a baka and a shy girl, and Forehead gets Sasuke-kun.' she thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto quickly closed and locked the door behind him. With a grin he created 15 Kage Bunshin. "Alright, I want 7 of you to go read about TaiJutsu. One clone per style!." As the seven clones nodded and picked up the books he turned to the rest of the clones. "Now, I want three of you to work on the weapons books, one on GenJutsu, three practicing the leaf exercise, one reading on Chakra control. I will be working on physical stuff. So keep working until I dispel you or you run out of chakra. Leaf exercise clones type to increase the amount each time it gets to easy."

With that said Naruto ran out the door and headed towards training ground 43 to begin. As the training ground came into sight Naruto began to run around the it. An hour later he came to a halt in the center of the field and took a quick breather. By his estimations he had run about 10 miles give or take a bit.

As he began to stretch one of his clones doing the chakra control exercise dispelled. He groaned as the information rushed to his head. He then grinned as he discovered that the clone had begun to spin two leaves in each palm, while one was stuck to it's forehead. Hopefully it would spread to the other clones.

Once his stretches were done he began doing pushups, situps, squats, and pullups. During the next 3 hours, his other two chakra control clones dispelled. He was excited to find out that the knowledge did in fact go to the other clones. He was even more excited to find out that the final clone was able to get 5 leaves to stick and spin all at once for 10 minutes before it finally ran out of chakra. He could not wait to find out what the clone reading about chakra control would find out.

As his workout came to a finish he decided to dispel the clone reading about Hebi Style and practice. The clone had actually gotten pretty far into the book. It had read and memorized all 5 of the basic stances as well as the basic kata's that went with them. In addition to that the clone was able to read about how the striking, blocking, dodging, and countering worked.

He quickly created 5 more clones and had them begin the basic stances and kata's. With an approving grin he began practicing the striking he had learned from his Kage Bunshin. An hour later he dispelled the 5 clones and immediately grabbed his head in pain as the rush of memories came in. He took a moment to sort through everything, and then created one last clone. His chakra was starting to run out so he decided that this spar would be it.

As him and the clone circled each other he rested in the first basic stance. Crouched in the low position he shot forward with this body almost parallel to the ground and made a quick strike at the clones stomach. The clone dodged and pushed the arm out of the way and struck Naruto's kidney.

Naruto quickly rolled to the side and got back into his stance. This time the clone struck first with a sweeping kick. Naruto Jumped the sweep and pushed off the clones chest with his feet. He and clone went back and forth for nearly thirty minutes testing everything that he had learned from the clones so far.

With one final vicious uppercut he was able to dispel the clone. He immediately fell on his butt and took a moment to rest.

XXXXXXXXXX

As Naruto listened to his Sensei speak he did a quick mental check that he did everything before he came. With his now slightly better chakra control he created 30 Kage Bunshin to train. Although this put a strain on his chakra he felt it was well worth it. He now had 10 clones working on his TaiJutsu styles. Each clone was to learn from the book and then practice what it learned, including what the clones had read yesterday.

He had his usual 7 working on each style, while the extra three worked on Hebi style. His hope would be to master Hebi style and then slowly ingrain the other into it with Suii.

His hope was that the clones would dispel before he had to spar, although his Hebi Style that he learned from yesterday was enough to get him by on the most basic level. He also had another 10 clones working on Tree Walking. It was the next step in the book, but it was a huge leap in terms of improving chakra control once it was done.

His last 10 clones were split between Kawarimi and GenJutsu study evenly. His whole theory behind learning was to completely master something before moving on to the next. It was who he had mainly done things his whole life, and it was how he would continue to do them.

"Alright, now you have until 10 A.M. To get these bells." Kurenai said as she swung them in front of her students. "In order to get them you will have to come at me with the intent to kill...BEGIN!"

The three students sprung into action and disappeared into the trees surrounding the training field. Each were crouched on a separate branch as they watched their sensei patiently wait for them. Naruto was the first to spring into action by Kawariming with a large rock behind Kurenai and engaging in a quick TaiJutsu match. Naruto only threw enough punches to goad Kurenai into attacking him. The result was less than spectacular. As she through a short jab at Naruto's face he attempted to duck under the punch.

Unfortunately she was significantly faster that him which resulted in him taking the jab directly in the forehead. He quickly rolled off to the side and did a quick Kawarimi with the rock that was sitting on the tree branch he originally occupied. "So what are you two best at?" he whispered to his partners.

"T-taiJutsu." Hinata stuttered out.

"My clan techniques." Ino replied.

"Hmmm, If Hinata and I try to occupy Kurenai, do you think you can hit her with your mind technique" he asked.

"Yeah if you give me enough time." Ino whispered.

Naruto nodded and the looked at Hinata. "Are you ready?"

Hinata blushed as she nodded in agreement. In a burst of speed Naruto and Hinata took off from there positions and engaged Kurenai in a fierce TaiJutsu battle. Naruto used his Hebi style to dodge and counted her attacks, as Hinata attempted to hit any vital chakra points.

TaiJutsu was not Kurenai's strong suite, but she had yet to receive a hit from the teens. 'Maybe they will figure it out.' she thought. As she went to dodge another strike from Hinata, Ino attempted to invade and take over her mind. The attack was thwarted, but the delay in time that it took Kurenai to fight off Ino gave Hinata enough time to land a strike on her shoulder, shutting off one of the major chakra points in the arm.

"Enough!" Kurenai shouted. Two of her students immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at her with a confused expression. One just smirked at her. "You have passed the test." she said with a smile.

"But, but..." Ino repeated in a weird tone.

"Naruto, why don't you explain what is going on." Kurenai said.

Naruto smirked again and answered. "The whole point was to show our teamwork. I initially attacked Kurenai-sensei to see how I would do individually, and then I came up with the simple plan that we used. Even if it didn't work, it would still show our teamwork. As our team is now, it seems to complement each other perfectly."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Kurenai chirped in.

Both Ino and Hinata stared at Naruto with shocked expressions. Neither knew that Naruto was so smart or intuitive. As both of his teammates were staring at him his first clone dispelled giving him a slighter higher level of Hebi style. It also added to his current skill level of it, giving him knowledge of how to be more fluid with the style.

At the moment his Hebi style was just barely above a basic understanding. He only knew 5 basic kata's and one intermediate. His overall skill with the style was basic. He could strike, block, dodge, and counter with only a slightly higher understanding of the basic skill set. He quickly frowned at both his slow progress even with Kage Bunshin and the fact that the only 9 clones working on TaiJutsu all started dispelling giving him a massive amount of data to sort through, and a headache to go with it.

"Now tomorrow we will begin your training and missions. Be here again at 8 A.M sharp." with that Kurenai Shunshined off leaving the three teens alone.

"See ya." Naruto said and turned to leave.

"Bye N-naruto-kun." Hinata said in a quite voice.

"Why do you call him Naruto-kun?" Ino asked in a sour voice. "He is just a baka."

"Naruto is very determined and he never gives up. H-he inspires me to try harder." she said with significantly less stuttering.

"Oh. Well he is still a baka." Ino said in a huff and walked away. Leaving Hinata alone in the field.

XXXXXXXXXX

Two months later had team 8 standing in the Hokage's office waiting for another mission. Naruto had achieved a massive amount of training in just a short time. His chakra control was already at a chunin level. This allowed him to make several hundred Kage Bunshin everyday instead of just under 50 when he started. By using his Kage Bunshin he had mastered the first part of water manipulation and use chakra to mold water into a ball in his hand. Unfortunately he did not know what the next step in his water training was so he took to learning Jutsu.

His first technique was the Mizu Bunshin. Although he had massive amounts of chakra he prefered using as little chakra as possible to get a job done, and Mizu Bunshin's were the perfect substitute for Kage Bunshin. It also worked perfectly with his Suiton- Baku Suishouha that creates a small body of water to fight on. His last technique that he learned was the Suiton – Suirou no Jutsu that trapped an opponent in a prison of water. Although the techniques were basic he was working hard to master them before he moved onto other things.

He also began training in his second element that showed up on his chakra paper. Fire was just as strong as his water, but he chose to focus on water. He could just barely light a leaf on fire and he was working hard on mastering the skill. He decided to use fire as an offensive element for now and learned one major skill with it.

He had to smirk when he saw the technique that was so precious to the Uchiha. The Katon – Goukakyuu no Jutsu was their precious fireball Jutsu that he was intent on mastering. It provided him with a powerful attack skill in the NinJutsu tree and it double as a screw you to the Uchiha. With his current skills in NinJutsu being adequate to him and his achievement of practically mastering the three basic skills completely he felt he could really start kicking up his other skill training.

His Henge, Kawarimi, and yes Bunshin were all almost completely mastered. He was working hard to finish mastering them too. His Henge was almost perfect and on only needed to use one one-handed seal to use it. His Kawarimi was now seal less and he was working on being able to use leaves seal less as well. He still had to use a one-handed seal to pull it off and use a quite a bit of chakra, but he was never one to give up.

His happiest part of NinJutsu training was getting the Bunshin down. He was finally able to cast the Jutsu by using only a single two handed seal, and he could create one at a time if he wanted. It was still a long ways away from what he would deem mastered, but it was a goal none the less.

His biggest accomplishment came from GenJutsu. Although he was only at an average Chunin for over all skill his capability with simple GenJutsu was incredible. His understanding of the basic types of GenJutsu was average, but he could use them basics very well. Figment, Glamor, Pattern, Phantasm, and shadow based GenJutsu was all in his scope to layer and trick an opponent into all but dieing without actually touching the opponent.

His second largest improvement was in the TaiJutsu department. His understanding of all seven styles was at a basic level or better, but his ability to transition between them was excellent. His work with Suii was definitely paying off and his main style of fighting, Hebi style, was coming alone nicely. He could take on almost all genin with any of his TaiJutsu styles and put if a fight if needed, but he preferred to use which ever style he needed at the time.

He found that Muay Thai was great to start out in and use as a basic skill set to not give anything away that the opponent could use against him. Red leg work perfectly while using any sort of Jutsu, or at a time where his hands were needed else where. Kentoushi worked perfectly if he ever lose his cool and it served as a way to take out opponents as quickly as possible. Dian Xue Shu and Naitsu worked excellent together and worked great to temporarily take out people or stop them from using chakra or limbs if needed.

His weapon training was coming along slowly. He could do the basic movements, but he just didn't seem to have the right sword to complement it well enough. He decided to put it on the back burner until his sword issue was fixed. He was able to learn his weapons styles well enough to used them if he had to. Gintsuki no Seikou Mei proved to be a handy alternative to Gyakusatsu at the moment for blocking weapons and striking with them when the opportunity arose.

The biggest thing he focused on was Senbon Taitoku. He found it incredibly easy to incorporate it into any of his TaiJutsu styles as well as serve as a throwing weapon. His only con with the style was knowing nothing about poisons to make it more effective.

Unfortunately he make no improvement in FuinJutsu or anymore KinJutsu, not that he cared. He had so much on his plate right now that he didn't think he could handle any more.

"So, you are looking for another mission?" the Hokage asked.

"Hai, I think my team is ready for a C ranked mission." Kurenai said back in a serious tone.

The Hokage thought for a bit and went over the teams files. 'They certainly have enough D ranked missions.' he thought as he saw a large 61 next to the D ranked spot. "Ok, I just recently had a C ranked mission that should be great for your team to start out on." He waved his hand and an AnBu appeared next to him.

It looked like he whispered something and then the AnBu was gone. A couple of minutes later an old drunken man stumbled into the room. "Team 8, you will be escorting Tazuna here to Nami no Kuni, where you will protect him while he finishes a bridge."

"I paid you all that money and all I get is a bunch of kids." Tazuna said in a deep and slightly slurred voice. Ino twisted her face up in anger, but before she could yell Naruto wrapped his hand around her mouth to prevent her from embarrassing him. Both Kurenai and Hinata just stood there and paid no mind to the man.

"I assure you that the team is more than capable. Kuenai here." he jestured to the Jonin. "Is a Jonin and a rather capable one. You will be fine."

"Fine..." the man grumbled.

"Now, I want you at the main gate in 2 hours. Pack for a two week trip." All three students nodded and gave Kurenai a 'Hai' and left to gather their things.

Naruto quickly ran to his favorite shop grumbling about not having any long term mission equipment. He entered the shop and was immediately greeted by Heiki the shops owner. "Naruto how have you been?"

"Good Heiki-san. I'm In need of some missions gear quickly. I have a mission in two hours." he said quickly. Heiki pointed to the back of the store and Naruto quickly made his way to the back.

He quickly spotted a black shinobi tent that could house up to three people if necessary. It sported a waterproof coating around the entire structure and could be set up in less than 5 minutes. It also included a small enclosed area just outside of the tent to place belongings to keep them out of the rain.

With the tent under one arm and grabbed a black sleeping bag with a pillow attached. With his sleeping arrangement problem solved he moved on to the next issue, cooking and food. Due to his furry little friend he had to consume a large amount of calories everyday, because of his increased metabolism. He grabbed a water skin off the shelf along with a basic cooking kit. It included two different sized pots a bowl and plate, with a small set of utensils.

With his hands full he set his things on the counter and then grab 3 large boxes of ration bars of the shelves. Each held 200 bars so he was set for a long time. On his way back to the counter he spotted the small weapons section. A set of razor sharp kunai that were a foot long. He picked one up and marveled at its weight. It was almost half the weight of his current kunai and long too. It was a slimmer profile that what he was used to with an improved grip. As he looked closer he noticed a slight bluish hit to the blade. He looked at the description and saw that it was made of chakra conducing metal. With a grin he grabbed the set and placed it on his stack of ration bars.

He then grabbed a large supply of curved shuriken. They had four points that curved to making it a much more vicious weapons. With another grin he grabbed a large supply of senbon of the shelf. Next to the senbon was several pouches made to hold the items. One of them was an advanced medical pouch. He quickly snatched a navy blue one off the shelf and checked the contents. There were items in it to treat most cases out in the field, plus enough room to hold a decent amount of senbon.

As he placed everything on the counter he pulled out his roll of money and gave what was needed to Heiki. While Naruto was looking around at the swords Heiki slipped in a set of chakra weights on several small scrolls a couple medium and one large scroll. With a pondering though he slipped in a scroll pouch as well. He then wrote a quick note about the scrolls and weights and put it in the bag as well.

With a warm goodbye Naruto left the store and sprinted back home to pack everything up. Once he made it to his room he dumped out his bags and separated everything out on his bed. With a small smile he picked up the note Heiki had wrote.

_Naruto,_

_I decided to give you a few things for free. The bands are chakra weights. You just place them on your wrists and ankles and push chakra into them to change the weight amount. Now the scrolls are going be especially handy for you. The large one only opens with a blood seal that you have to set by smearing some blood on the outside seal and push chakra into. Keep all of your valuables in here. The other scrolls are for your missions._

_Heiki_

He set the letter down and got to business. He slipped the bands on his limbs and charged them to 50lbs each to start out, which was more than enough. He then slid his old kunai out of the pouch and placed his new set inside. Next he refilled his shuriken pouch. He then strapped the senbon pouch right in the middle of his back on his belt.

With a quick glance at everything else he began sealing his extra supplies in the medium scrolls, while he sealed all of his traveling gear in the smaller ones. He slipped the small scrolls into the tactical pouch on his left leg and then stuck the medium ones into the pouch gifted by Heiki. The pouch was then placed between the other two pouches.

Looking around at what was left in his house he decided to take Heiki's advice and began sealing all of his valuable possessions into the larger scroll including all of the books he had taken from the lab. With everything sealed up he activated the blood seal and then connected a strap to the scroll and slung it over his head so it lay against his back.

With a sigh Naruto took one last glance at his apartment before closing and locking the door behind himself. He slowly made his way to the gate to meet his team mates, but ended up getting there early anyways.

The rest of his time was filled with waiting for his team to show up. Leave it to them to show up right on time. Hinata showed up first. "Hey Hinata." Naruto said.

"H-hello Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a blush.

"Are you ready for the mission?" he asked politely.

"Hai." she responded shortly. He blushed deepened as they had a small conversation. They have had many small conversations that never seemed to go anywhere. She was always to shy to talk to Naruto for more than a little bit before passing out. Ino was the one who could talk to Naruto freely. It was probably do to the fact that she wanted the Uchiha she figured. 'Gah! Why can't I have her confidence.' she thought.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Ino, Kurenai, and Tazuna showed up. "Alright, is everyone ready?" Kurenai asked.

She got three 'Hai's' and one 'yeah, yeah'. "Ok before we leave let me see if you properly packed."

She quickly went thought Ino's pack frowning as she saw all of the hair products and things that didn't even relate to being a shinobi. Hinata's pack as just a basic ninja pack that you could buy from any store. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.

"Naruto where is your pack and what is with the giant scroll?" Kurenai asked.

"Eh? I put everything in storage scrolls. It's lighter that way." he answered. Kurenai's mouth was hanging open. For someone who was apparently so stupid in the academy he sure did surprise her all the time. "And the large scroll holds some other stuff." he said half truthfully.

"When did you learn that Naruto." Ino asked in surprise.

"Are you calling me stupid?" Naruto asked in annoyance.

"N-no..well..." Ino responded in guilt.

"Any who lets get going. Naruto take point, Ino and Hinata guard Tazuna and I'll cover the back." Kurenai said.

As they left the village Tazuna grumbled about kids and a long trip.

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Let me know how the story is going. Thoughts on his skill sets as well as any suggestions are always helpful.

I plan on working on the next chapter right away. It will most likely take me a while to get it up though. I tend to be a pretty busy person.


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